20 Ways To Wake Up With Motivation

Lets face it, feeling motivated is perhaps one of the most difficult things you could ever do. If it were so easy, everyone would be making progress and achieving their goals they’ve set out to achieve.

Even worse is when we read countless articles from around the web that make it seem straightforward. As a result, it often becomes frustrating due to it seeming easy to apply on paper. It does little to improve your self-esteem and confidence, especially when you face difficulties in applying the advice you know and understand so well.

But all of this should feel encouraging, because one of the main things I personally found with regards to motivation is that it takes very little of it when doing the things you truly love. It seems very confusing at first but it makes sense when understood. Have you ever felt like you needed motivation when doing something that excited you?

In setting up the following points to help you wake up motivated, we need to firstly get the following basic point out of the way in order to establish good fundamentals and a strong foundation:

Find out what you truly enjoy doing in your life.

Really think about what you truly enjoy, and ffter establishing what truly fascinates and excites you, lets look at the 20 things you can do that will make you feel energized to start your day.

1) Have your biggest dreams written and visible for you to see the minute you wake up.

Our brains constantly need reminding of what we want from our lives. Having it written down creates a massive shift in our psyches and belief systems because what is simply a thought and a dream suddenly becomes tangible and clearly visible for everyone to see.

It suddenly no longer becomes a vivid imagination, but something that could actually become a reality.

2) Focus on what needs to be done for that day.

The morning is quite possibly the hardest time in the day to become productive due to having so many things to get on with. So many tasks and errands to get done, and often feeling overwhelmed due to constantly focusing on the big picture of what we hope to achieve in the long term.

It’s a great way to motivate and excite you, but be aware that the things you have to do today is what will eventually lead you there 3-4 years down the line. Break down your goals into smaller chunks and begin to hack away at them.

3) Stretch and Exercise before starting your day.

It’s been proven by science that regular exercise releases dopamine, which is the same chemical that makes us feel a burst of happiness. It’s our biology’s ‘feel good’ pill that does wonders to our positivity.

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Doing this often will not only increase your feel good state, but will also help you keep fit, healthy and in great shape, which is an added bonus.

4) Practice Discipline to help you follow through with your tasks.

Due to social media, the internet and smart phones. We are constantly bombarded by information from every angle that can suck up your time and willpower to get things done.

Have the tenacity and discipline to set priorities for yourself and to focus on what needs to be done first. Set your phone on silent, block websites on your filtering service to help stop you from logging on.

5) Take regular breaks.

It is always important to give yourself a few minutes break for every half hour of work you do.

Use the ‘Pomodoro Technique’ by setting yourself a 20 minute timer to do as much as you can in that time period. Undistracted and pure productivity. Then spend the remaining 10 minutes to wind down, make a coffee or go for a short walk around the block.

You will find you will have gotten more work down in those 2 hours than you could have ever done throughout the entire day of unfocused work.

6) Call up friends and family and share your thoughts.

As focused as we can be, it is always a good idea to speak to people in order to share your thoughts and worries. We are social creatures by nature and need to speak with someone in order to feel connected.

This will help you re-gather your mind in order to keep you focused and concentrated.

7) Always aim to look your best at all times.

Looking your best will help you feel more confident and sure of yourself. This is especially important if you’re currently lacking in self-confidence and self-esteem.

The fact is, people who think highly of themselves will naturally aim to look their best at all times. Even if you don’t feel it yet, you can always fake it until you make it.

Look for clothes that fit your body well and feels comfortable to wear on any occasion.

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8) Plan and take short trips abroad multiple times a year.

Taking short trips are especially important when times get tough and will help you clear your mind from the daily struggles, which will inevitably arise as you continue to take action.

These are commonly referred to as ‘mini retirements’. Spend some time planning out your travels throughout the year. Fortunately, with cheap airline flights and apartments, this could easily be achieved within a small budget.

9) Keep improving yourself.

Staying comfortable is never a good thing and is what generally makes us lose satisfaction over time. Have the drive to always improve where you currently are.

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The people you hang around with will constantly find you interesting to be with as they will never be able to create a sustained impression of you due to growing on a daily basis.

If you’ve achieved your goals, try and set even higher goals for yourself that will take you to the next level. There really is no such thing as destinations, only milestones.

10) Start a personal blog and share your discoveries with the world.

The greatest satisfaction you could ever have is in sharing what you know with others. I’ve never felt any better than when I’ve personally received an email from a reader of my own blog, telling me how much it’s helped them with their personal life.

This feeling can’t ever be bought and is without a doubt, the greatest thing you could ever do for your self-worth.

11) Spend an hour a day learning new skills.

Similar to point #9, learning new skill sets is perhaps the best way to improve your overall value and marketability as a person.

The more you’re able to provide for people, the better you’ll be able to effectively communicate high market value, which will increase your self-worth and self-confidence.

12) Aim to give more in value than you expect to receive.

The biggest difference in my life personally was in understanding the importance of giving in value to others.

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In reality, we very rarely place importance or significance in things if it doesn’t provide us with a sense of value in the first place. With this understanding, I realised how crucial it is to give as opposed to receiving.

Find out what people want, and aim to give more to them in value than you expect to receive. This will not only create more satisfaction in your life, but will also help see the world with positivity.

13) Start talking to strangers and making new friends.

We become so busy in our daily lives that we simply have little time to meet new people outside of it. As a result, the concept of meeting a new person beyond a social environment is generally seen as taboo.

There really is nothing wrong with meeting new people whilst out and about. Start talking to new people wherever you go. Talk to checkout clerks, bus drivers, people on the street. You will eventually realize that it’s not as scary or out of the ordinary as you once thought it was.

14) Look for mentors who are already doing the things you would like to achieve.

Whatever goals and dreams you have for yourself, chances are there is likely someone out there who is already successful at it.

Seek these people out and surround yourself with them. If it’s not possible, look for successful figures in books, audios or other blogs and learn from their successes.

Your learning curve will be a lot quicker and will help you create the positive mindsets you need in order to achieve.

15) Spend a few hours a day purely for fun and leisure.

It is never a good idea to focus purely on work. We need to wind down and do fun activities as well. In fact, this is so important that Google uses this as part of their work ethic.

Some of our most creative and ingenious ideas come from doing the things that aren’t related to work.

16) Focus on creating a balanced life.

If you place all of your time and energy on one thing, you are at great risk of hurting your identity due to having nothing else in place in order to keep you happy.

Set a balanced schedule to fit in all of the things that make you happy so that if one thing suddenly fails, you will always have something else in your life to keep you positive.

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17) Pursue things that scares you and makes you feel uncomfortable.

Never be afraid to push yourself and to live on the edge. As long as it’s physically safe and not harmful to your body, you will always come out the other side a better person who is able to tackle more things comfortably.

Your goal is to eventually have a comfort zone that is so large that everything you’ll ever experience in your life will no longer seem out of the ordinary and will be able to competently tackle them all with ease.

18) Learn how to sell and market yourself.

The key thing I learned in life is that the better people were at selling and marketing themselves via effective communication, the more opportunities and successful they were.

You can have all the skills and abilities in the world, but if you do not know how to sell and market yourself, no one will know you exist or know your true value.

19) Build a mastermind group to share ideas with.

Look for like minded people who also want the same things as you do. Going on the path to success can sometimes be a lonely journey.

Having other people on the journey will help make things easier due to sharing and bouncing ideas across, which keeps everyone motivated.

Finally…

20) Don’t take life too seriously.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that in the end, this life is only temporary. As important it is to achieve goals and better yourself, in the end neither of us will come out of it alive or live forever. Always take the time to admire and appreciate the time you have and to appreciate the finer details of life.

It will keep your feet on the ground and above all, help you stay humble.

Why You Think You’re Not Good Enough and How To Believe in Yourself

Have you ever wanted to say something at work, but a little voice of doubt crept in and said, “what if you are wrong”?

Maybe you wanted to apply for that promotion or ask that special someone on a date, but something kept you from taking action. When you think you’re not good enough, you tend to fear the outcome and lack faith in your abilities. That is why it is vital you discover how to believe in yourself so you can accomplish your goals and create your dream life.

Whatever your situation, the fears and self-doubt your false beliefs create will always stop you in your tracks. Identifying the beliefs that cause you to sabotage your life is the first step to removing them.

Self-doubt causes inaction, and inaction leads to regret. When you are not following your passion and living your dream life, you are left with a lot of questions:

What if I took a chance on myself?

Could I have had a better life if I took more risks?

Am I be satisfied with the legacy I am leaving behind?

What could I have accomplished if I did not settle for less?

So why would you think you’re not good enough?

1. Parenting

The perception you have of yourself is based on your past experiences. There are studies that show children mimic everything from their parents ability to regulate emotions, to their parents belief about money.[1]

I have had clients who did not believe they were good enough because they did not receive any positive reinforcement as a child. When they were young, their parents were extremely overprotective.

Think of your childhood challenges like dragons you had to slay. Each obstacle you overcame was another dragon you successfully removed from your life. As you slay more dragons, your self-esteem and confidence increase. When someone has overprotective parents, their parents end up slaying the dragons.

If you are never encouraged to slay your own dragons, you start to doubt whether you can. It is only natural for a child to conclude their parents are always helping them because they think they need it. This child ages into an adult who still believes they are not good enough. They seek the help and confirmation of others, and they rarely stand-up to opposition.

Solution: Slay Your Dragons!

If you want to believe in yourself, you are going to have to take steps to rebuild your trust in yourself. Start by keeping your word to others and arriving on-time. By showing yourself that others can (and do) trust you, you are going to feel more comfortable trusting yourself.

As you move onto larger and more challenging tasks, you have built a foundation of trust in your ability to keep your word. Next, you are going to want to reclaim your sword from others. At first, you may want to confide in whoever it is currently slaying your dragons.

Understand if it is your parent or someone who loves you, they want the best for you and mean well. You are simply going to tell them that you want to do the work, and will ask them for their thoughts in the planning phase. Feel free to check in with them and give them updates on your progress, while making sure they understand you are wanting to do the work yourself.

Then when the task is completed, let them know so you can celebrate together. Now that you have slayed your own dragon, you can start to reclaim your confidence. By you utilizing them as your guide, you get the added bonus of someone you respect and admire, telling you how amazing you are.

Think of it like a symbolic passing of the torch. Now, you are both dragon slayers. Which means all the positive attributes you attributed to them slaying your dragons, now belong to you.

2. Over-Exaggerating and Oversimplifying

Your past experiences may involve you or someone close to you failing. When you experience failure, you can lose your desire to continue. This has less to do with whether you are brave or scared, and more to do with the fact that your mind does not like failure.

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No one enjoys participating in events in which they under-perform. Outside of the usual reasons of embarrassment, feelings of inadequacy, and fear of failure – it is simply not fun.

Who wants to play baseball if they strikeout every time it is their turn? Would you enjoy singing in front of an audience if you were booed off the stage every time you performed? I could go on, but I think you get the point.

The thing about those two examples is no one really strikes out “every” at-bat. It is also unlikely someone could be booed off the stage “every time” they performed in-front of an audience.

What ends up happening is you oversimplify and exaggerate your past experiences and then your mind believes you. If you believe you are not good enough to ask someone on a date because they “always” tell you no, then do not be surprised you never muster the courage to do so.

If you want to overcome these feelings of inadequacy, start by changing your beliefs. This exercise does not need to be complicated. If you believe you strikeout every time it is your turn, I want to you to go to a batting cage and keep swinging until you hit the baseball.

When you experience success, I want you to take a mental note, write it down, or have someone video it. This is your proof that you do not always strike out. Then, whenever your belief that you are not good enough resurfaces, you are going to replay that video.

Regardless of the situation, you can find a successful experience that you are overlooking.

Solution: Read About the Failures of Others

It sounds a little crazy, I know, but reading about the failures of other successful people will improve your confidence. In a study conducted by Columbia University, they found that teaching students about the failures of great scientists encouraged them to do better.[2]

When you are battling fear and self-doubt, you tend to over-exaggerate the abilities of others and diminish your own by comparison. You start to believe the successful are successful because they are courageous risk-takers, who do not take no for an answer. You tell yourself, they are meant to succeed, while you on the other hand are not.

When you are able to relate to the successful, you start to realize they have the same struggles and challenges you do. The only difference is they kept going.

Now it is not a question of whether you can succeed, it is a question of whether you want to succeed.

3. Undervalue Yourself

What is the main difference between someone who believes they are good enough and someone who does not? The person who believes they are good enough understands they are a person of value.

What I mean by this is if you do not believe you are worth being listened to, you will not have anything to say. If you do not believe you are good enough to be respected and treated as such, you will accept and rationalize all kinds of mistreatment.

There is an old saying that we are treated as we allow ourselves to be treated. When someone has the confidence and self-esteem that commands respect, they will not accept being treated any kind of way. However, if someone does not see themselves as worthy, they will remain in toxic situations because they do not believe anything better is on the horizon.

Dr. Jennifer Crocker, who worked on a series of self-esteem studies, found in her latest research that:[3]

“College students who based their self-worth on external sources–including appearance, approval from others and even their academic performance–reported more stress, anger, academic problems, relationship conflicts, and had higher levels of drug and alcohol use and symptoms of eating disorders”

Solution: Internalize Your Self-Worth

Instead of valuing yourself based on the awards, recognition, and accolades of others, you need to search internally. By basing your perception of yourself on your core values, you can regain control over self-image.

Instead of focusing on things that are outside of control, keep your mind on what it is that makes you special. You are not defined by your job, relationships, religion, or education. Rather, you are defined by the manner in which you participate in these things. You may be a creative, hard-working, and compassionate person; and that shows up in every thing you do.

Understand that you do not need to be creative, hard-working, and compassionate all the time to consider yourself these things. You are not trying to be perfect, but you are trying to connect with your true self.

By understanding the similarities in which you tackle objectives, you will build a consistent and powerful self-worth that stands apart from external confirmation.

Final Thoughts

Do not allow your past experiences do dictate your future success. You do not want to look back on your life and have a lot of questions and regrets.

Build trust in yourself by taking action today. This will help you build the confidence you need to believe in yourself and your ability to become the champion of your life.